Eden

"Ceriqa! Pick up the mirror!" Bran yelled into the mirror on the wall of the parlor. He had been yelling into it for the last ten minutes. "I know you're there, so stop being petty! I don't have a lot of time and I need to call in a favor!" A pair of big, brown eyes accentuated by immaculately-applied winged eyeliner slid into view: the top half of Bran's sister's face was visible.

"A favor?" came a shrill voice from the mirror. "From high and mighty Bran? Our Bran?"

"Yeah, yeah, stow it!" he replied, sulkily. "Do you still have records of the thieves' guild-associated businesses in your cabinet?"

She ignored his question. "Where are you calling from? The tracking spell that's embedded in this mirror isn't picking you up, and the tracking spell I just had carter manually cast isn't revealing anything, either. You're doing one of your really weird things, aren't you?"

"In the interest of what I'm trying to do, I can't tell you without putting myself in danger."

"So one of the weird things, got it."

"Cer, focus. I'm serious about the favor. I'm calling in most of my chips." Ceriqa backed up, putting her whole face in view of the mirror.

"You're serious."

"Deadly."

"You know that you'd have to stop your ventures and do family work, right?"

"It's not like I don't have caveats, Ceriqa. But, yes, I understand that.

"What's the caveat?"

"That no matter what the fallout of what I'm about to ask of you, that the family stands behind me and those associated with me."

Ceriqa retrieved some parchment and a quill. "Who's associated with you, Bran?" she asked with a sigh.

"Eden Springsnow, elf bard; Vorol Greenleaf, elf gladiator; Sariel Ortus, elavis acolyte of Ra; Raenaugh Joyautombe, human noble."

Ceriqa's eyebrows shot up. "Joyautombe? What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into?"

This time Bran ignored her question. "Starting at the beginning of this coming week, I'll throw myself headlong into the family business in exchange for that and the forthcoming favor. So do you have those records or not?"

"Fine, yes, I do. What do you want done with them?"

"I need you to contact the city watch. Tell them you have witness testimonies that thieves' guild operations are being conducted at those locations and that the inventory they keep does not match their ledgers or tax claims. If something comes of it, the witnesses won't be needed and it can be passed off as an anonymous tip. If our information isn't good, find a low-ranking thieves' guild member and bribe them to take the fall for the information."

"Bran!" his sister cried with playful, though not insincere, surprise. "This is so unlike you! I thought you were above all that!"

"I need you to do it now, so the watch begins striking within the next hour. Make abso-fucking-lutely sure that the watch members you involve are not guild-associated and that don't report to guild-associated members, and make sure they know that they have to avoid corrupt members of the watch. I know you have my records of who is fine and who isn't. Do you agree to my terms?"

"Sure. It'll be nice not to have all the responsibility. But I have a caveat."

"What is it?"

"I get to accept head of household when the time comes. Not you."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine. I was going to suggest that closer to the time, anyway."

"I thought that was the case, but I wanted to make sure. Well, I'll get on it, since it's so urgent. One more thing, though, Bran?"

"What is it?"

"It'll be nice having you around again. You're a stick in the mud, but no one could ever accuse you of being a bad person. You're something our family needs, I think."

The rest of the group watched as the mirror regained its original view. Eden's gut twisted a bit. They had spoken about it before, but now that it was done, she realized the gravity of the action.

"Bran, did you just weaponize the city watch for your own goals?" She kept her tone as unjudgmental as she could--after all, she had backed the idea, along with everyone else. He looked at her with knowing and sympathetic eyes.

"Yes, Eden, I did. At the behest of one person, the watch has been mobilized to combat something that the person perceives as a threat. I know well the weight of this decision. As you think about this, know that there are numerous other individuals with that same power who probably do use it to edge out their opponents."

"Should that power exist, Bran?" She asked, again, trying to keep her voice sounding inquisitive. She could tell, though, as the words escaped her lips, that they did not come off that way. Still, Bran answered her calmly, honestly, and seemingly with a heart of remorse.

"No, it probably shouldn't, Eden. But not only do I not know how to correct that power as a whole, for everyone across the board, but since I do have that power, I can't in good conscience, refrain from using it in a manner that seems good to me. Let me ask you, Eden, do you know how to correct this problem? And what's more, if you had this power, would you be able to refrain from using it to keep people you think are bad from gaining an upper hand on those you think shouldn't be trodden upon?"

"I don't know, Bran. For either of those things."

"I want you to understand something, Eden." He paused.

"Yes, Bran?"

"If you do come into the wisdom to be able to handle this issue in a way that not only strips me of that power, but keeps others from having it, I want you to know that I need that information, perhaps more than anything else. I want to help this city, even if that means that the Houses end up losing their influence. Do you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe me, Eden?"

"You've given me no reason to doubt you, Bran."

"Good."

***

The group hurried out of the manor, dodging carriages and horses, off to the Golden Quarter. Most shopkeepers were packing up for the day, but the weapon stall with Tekek was still open.

"I thought I might be seeing you again!" The sanpinsani called as they approached.

"How did you know?" Eden asked.

"My cousin had a conversation with an upset and regretful innkeeper, then my cousin had a conversation with me."

"If everyone is as well-informed as your family, Tekek," Bran said, "then how can anything we do be secret?"

"Oh, no, most people aren't. The sanpinsani as a whole are a very talkative group. What one sees one hour gets spread to us within that same hour. Or it seems that way much of the time. But if that inkeeper is correct, it sounds like you need an extra silvered dagger for a special rodent problem?"

"That's right." Eden replied. "But one other thing. These orange poultices that Sariel has: do you think you can coat the outside of the glass with silver dust or shavings or something?" Sariel passed Tekek an orange potion."

"How long do you have?" Tekek asked.

"An hour, maybe an hour and a half if we're lucky." Bran replied.

"Alas, no, as I was not prepared for this particular request. I'm sorry. But it is a magical explosive, right? That should work fine against the rodents you'd be facing."

Vorol interjected, "Yeah, but we wanted an additional 'fuck you' to send to them." Tekek smiled.

"I understand and empathize, mister elf. I still have not what I need for the job. Now go, do what you plan to do." she said, while handing a dagger to Eden.

"Yeah, but how much?" Eden asked. There was a twinkle in Tekek's eyes.

"It's free. You have pressing matters and I just happened to have an extra silvered dagger laying around."

"I'll do something even nicer for you, Tekek!" Eden promised Tekek.

"It doesn't have to be nicer. It could be something as small as bringing me some bacon one morning." Tekek suggested with a shrug.

"Do you need anything while we're here?" Bran asked Raenaugh, who was watching the exchange with interest. He zoned out of the conversation and looked at Bran.

"No," Raenaugh said, clearing his throat. He tapped the scabbard that held Grounder, his magical sword. "This will probably be all I need."

They said their goodbyes and started to move on to their next step, but Vorol insisted they stop by an alchemy stand on the way out of the market; Vorol really wanted that silver dust.

They stopped by a stand on the outskirts of the market that was run by a dwarf. Unfortunately for Vorol, the dwarf turned them away.

"No." The dwarf said, resolutely.

"What?" Vorol asked. "Why?"

"I saw you buying from those snakes. They edge honest artisans out of decent wages. No. I don't want your business. Be on your way." Eden turned and looked back towards the golden corner. Could the dwarf really Tekek's stand from here? She squinted. It didn't seem likely. Vorol opened his mouth to protest at the dwarf but Bran clamped his hand down on Vorol's shoulder.

"We don't have time for this shit, Vorol." was all he said. Vorol shut his mouth and nodded; the party set off to the docks.

Eden led them to a cluster of large ships that, for whatever reason, were parked almost exactly as they were when Eden first visited the docks. Almost. Two of the boats had been swapped in the week she had been cooped up in Raenaugh's manor. When she got close to the turnoff point on the docks into the obscured area she told the remainder of the group to stay.

"I don't know if he's going to show up, but if he does, I know he won't appreciate me having brought multiple people to see him.

"Duly noted." Bran said, casually.

"Also, if I'm not back in... fifteen minutes, leave without me. I'll be either deadlocked in conversation--he's not the type to allow me to just come and go, from what I understood--or I'll just be dead.

"Sure thing." He said--again, too coolly. He was planning on accompanying Eden no matter what she said.

"I'm serious, don't turn that corner. He might eat you to keep your mouth shut. For all I know, he could be swimming beneath us listening, and the only reason he hasn't burst through the wood to eat the loudmouth noble is that people can see you and report the incident. If you round that corner out of plain sight, he might snap you up."

"Come on, Bran," Vorol said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "we should probably guard the entrance to this enclave of boats. If the guild is having us followed, we'll need to keep them off Eden's back; they've already proven that they'll ambush us if we're alone."

Bran finally budged. "There's no way into this section of docks than walking in this way?"

"No, I'm sure there isn't." Eden reassured him. "But, hey remember the plan. I might need that jacket, here." He nodded, gravely.

"If what you told us is true, I agree, you might indeed need it, but please don't get hasty--we only have one of these."

"Please be careful." Raenaugh added, concern in his voice.

"Thank you, Brandy!" He handed her the jacket, which she promptly donned. And with that, the four men turned and guarded the entrance, facing out.

Eden turned and walked into the enclave of ships, turning as the path beneath her did, losing visibility with the rest of the group. The path turned left and right until it came to the wide fork where ships on each side gave cover from the city and most of the bay, but left a view of the ocean.

She peered down into the blue-green water and yelled.

"Riverreign! Riverreign! Riiiiiiverreign!" In response, there were some bubbles, but the dragon didn't surface. Eden stomped her feet. "Fine. Honored Riverreign!" More bubbles. "Ugh. Honored Riverreign, please grace me with an audience that I might gaze upon your majesty!"

The dragon's head erupted from the water with a crash and a spray of mist. Water dripped from his emerald scales as his head arced forward and leveled to look down at Eden with his ruby gaze. Riverreign opened his maw and spoke.

"There, was that so difficult? Honor where honor is due!" Eden cupped one side of her face with her hand.

"It's not like dragons come with a manual!"

"No, as most who try to make one end up dead in the process, but based on your conversation with your friends, back there. Maybe you should make a manual; you were right on the money with your assertions." Eden started to smirk with pride, but he cut her off. "However, you alerted people to my presence, and they believed you."

"That was the gamble you took when you let me go, Honored Riverreign. Would you punish me for your use of your authority as you saw fit?" A soft rumble washed over Eden as a not-quite-restrained growl escaped the mouth of fangs.

"You're fortunate you're so silver-tongued; that almost sounded like you were putting blame on me for something." He paused for dramatic effect and continued. "I'll reserve judgement on whether to eat you or not for later, though. I trust you've sought me out with companions for a reason?"

"Oh, them? Yeah, I'm doing a job for one of them, but that is what I've come to you about. You said you're here to pad your hoard, right?"

"I--that's--yes, that's essentially--yes." The dragon haltingly replied.

"Well, I've got the location of a sizable amount of treasure, all for you! Enough to make your stay here worth it, and well-worth outing yourself to the city."

"And you would just give me this location of treasure for free?" The dragon raised a massive eyebrow-ridge in suspicion.

"It does benefit me in the method, Honored Riverreign. Understand as I say this next part that I'm not attempting to leverage you into doing anything for me, but that what you will get out of this is everything and I get none of the treasure."

"Hmm... Continue."

"In getting this treasure for yourself, you also end up screwing over my enemies. Does this sound favorable? You get treasure and my enemies are beset by a powerful dragon!"

"That does sound nice. Where is this treasure and how do I know that it's worth making my presence known to the city?"

"Are you familiar with the name, 'Jacques Joyautombe'?"

"The legendary pirate? Sure. That's his old ship that's starting to leave the dock. Such an original design..." Eden's eyes widened. Two things went through Eden's mind: 'The pirates were leaving with at least a large portion of the treasure', and 'how did the dragon know the Headman's Joy was leaving? There are ships in the way!'.

"Okay, now you know the treasure it's said that he hid?" Eden asked, trying to hurry the conversation along.

"Yes, his legendary treasure that he hid before he himself barricaded himself in a city to the north."

She blurted out as quickly as she could, "The pirates teamed up with the thieves' guild and found the treasure in a vault far beneath the city; they gave the guild a cut and are now back to their own place that they hide treasure. The thieves' guild are my enemies and they've struck some sort of business deal with the pirates." The dragon froze and Eden could practically see the wheels turning in the dragon's gigantic head. "So, without putting too fine a point on it, your treasure is leaving via that ship."

The dragon regained composure and stated flatly, "I can just follow the ship out of the bay and attack it out of sight of the city." Eden's shoulder's slumped.

"My plan kind of involved you making a spectacle..."

"Why should I do that when there's a better option?"

"...Because I'm revealing the treasure to you in good faith?"

The dragon snorted. "Because it benefits you. If I attack that ship now and there's nothing in there, my cover is blown for nothing."

Eden inhaled and braced herself. She was prepared to make this gamble when she stepped foot onto the docks, but now that she was here, it was tough. She opened her mouth.

"If there's nothing in there, you can eat me." The dragon paused, tilted his head, and said,

"Then I believe you. But if you are right about it, then you owe me a favor."

"Fine, fine just go! And be dramatic about it!" she urged the dragon; she could see the Headsman's Joy coming into sight from around the dragon's barricade. He turned his head sideways and leaned closer to the little elf.

"If I find treasure in that ship, I'll breathe fire into the sky. If not..." Then Riverreign dove into the water and out of sight. With that, the boats barricading her view of the bay disappeared; the illusion dropped and she turned to see Bran, Sariel, Raenaugh, and Vorol, turning around as the shadow of the illusory boats disappeared, and dropping their collective jaws.

Eden sprinted back up the dock, rounding the turns and running past her comrades, screaming,

"Follow!" Almost missing a beat, they sprinted after her as they made for the street that would lead to the bar they needed to go to. Eden ran and she ran fast, covering as much ground as her short legs would allow her; she was ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent sure that the treasure was on the Headsman's Joy, but on the off-chance that she was wrong, she wanted to get into the sewers as quickly as possible.

They reached the street that would lead them up, away from the docks and to the bar, but Eden stopped to turn and watch the Headsman's Joy. It hadn't gotten terribly far out, but so far, it had remained untouch--

The entire bay shook and there was a definite crunch as the reddish-brown vessel seemed to stop in place. The dragon's head burst through the center of the ship and snaked up though the hole, revealing the entirety of its serpentine body, held aloft by massive wings causing gusts of wind with every beat, felt by everyone on the docks.

"Shit!" hollered Sariel.

"Fuck!" bellowed Bran.

"So you weren't lying." commented Vorol with definite awe in his voice. Raenaugh was the only one who was silent, but Eden couldn't tell if he was impressed, terrified, or both--she didn't know if his already pale face could get any paler on normal occasions.

Riverreign seemed to look directly at Eden, then tilted his head up and let loose a gout of orange flame. Eden almost fell over out of relief.

With that, the whole of the docks reacted. Bells tolled from every manned ship, horns sounded on the docks, and screams erupted from every citizen and guard in this section of town.

"DRAGON!!" someone shouted in a panic.

"Gods preserve us!" another cried, running further into the city.

"Baldur, grant your shield!" a terrified-looking watchman said as she nevertheless made her way towards the docks. The crowds, city watch aside, stampeded up the street, making it somewhat easier for Eden's group to travel than before. Unable to be turned around, carriages were abandoned and the horses left to panic, run, and then trample people who got too close. Rogue carriages aside, the tide of people swept continually north.

"Watchmen!" another member of the city watch called, presumably a ranking officer, "Sweep the businesses and evacuate the elderly and the disabled! Get a caster to tranquilize these horses!"

The group ran, using the panic of the crowds to their advantage, dashing north through the street, Eden leading, followed by Raenaugh, then Vorol, Sariel, and Bran, respectively. As they got closer, they pressed in to the sidewalk instead of the street, still listening to Riverreign tear the Headsman's Joy to splinters.

They found the bar and dove in before the city watch saw them. The inside of the bar looked exactly like Eden remembered it, but without any people. She looked to the wine racks in the back and saw that the racks had been shoved to the side and a hatch to the sewers below was plainly visible. It appeared that the guildmembers in the bar had all descended and left no one to pull the wine rack back in place.

"I still can't believe, you had a dragon in your back pocket this entire time." Bran said, a bit bewildered. "We could have used a dragon earlier than now!"

"Bran, you don't use a dragon; you flatter it and hope it doesn't kill you!"

"You tiny terror," Vorol chuckled, "this is exactly why you told that story to the guildmaster, isn't it? You wanted him to know that he fucked with the wrong elf."

Eden momentarily shifted from autumn to spring and beamed, and then went back to autumn.

"Well, we've got a job to do." Eden said. "Let's get this arrogant prick."

"How should we approach this? If we had any luck, a good portion of the guildmembers have been called away to protect their businesses, and more still have left to collect their assets before a dragon supposedly burns it all down, but I wouldn't count on it. We don't know if Bran's sister mobilized the watch quickly enough, and we don't know if the guild is surprised enough."

Bran pulled a stone out of his pocked and looked at it. Eden remembered the messaging stone she used to help Azrael and fought to stay autumn.

"She was mostly successful." Bran commented. "We should have some relief, but there's no telling how quickly the guild mobilized or if they'd even decided to save their holdings or not. There's a lot of uncertainty, here."

"Well, there's nothing for it." Eden shrugged. "Let's go in."

"Vorol, you go in first," Bran instructed, "right in front of Sariel. Keep brutes and rogues off of us. Sariel, give us some wards as necessary, but I need you to give us suppression fire; swap with Vorol if you need to let loose a blast, but save most of your magic for healing us if we need it. Eden, start playing yesterday because we need that speed boost you can give us, and cast whatever spells you need to, but only use your boomspell--"

"Boomspell?"

"Whatever the hells that spell you used to free Raenaugh."

"Fair." She slung her lute into her hands and started playing. Everyone felt a little tingly almost immediately.

"Raenaugh, do you have any decent ranged spells?"

"Sadly, not yet. I'll be relying mostly on Grounder."

"Then I'll be operating at range." Bran pulled out and unfolded his single-hand crossbow. The thing was positively tiny. He reached down to his pantlegs and unstrapped a small quiver from his ankle and clipped it to his belt.

"Brandy, that crossbow is so cute!" Eden teased.

"Well, the hobs won't find the poison on the bolts terribly cute." He replied with an eyeroll. "Raenaugh, you and I will guard the rear."

The group unsheathed their weapons, opened the hatch, and slid down the ladder.